The crystal structure of diphtheria toxin. |
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Authors: | S Choe M J Bennett G Fujii P M Curmi K A Kantardjieff R J Collier D Eisenberg |
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Institution: | Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles 90024. |
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Abstract: | The crystal structure of the diphtheria toxin dimer at 2.5 A resolution reveals a Y-shaped molecule of three domains. The catalytic domain, called fragment A, is of the alpha + beta type. Fragment B actually consists of two domains. The transmembrane domain consists of nine alpha-helices, two pairs of which are unusually apolar and may participate in pH-triggered membrane insertion and translocation. The receptor-binding domain is a flattened beta-barrel with a jelly-roll-like topology. Three distinct functions of the toxin, each carried out by a separate structural domain, can be useful in designing chimaeric proteins, such as immunotoxins, in which the receptor-binding domain is substituted with antibodies to target other cell types. |
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